1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and apparatus for extending a license of a content, the license referring to data for controlling use of the content, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for extending a license of a content in a portable multimedia device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portable multimedia device can play back a content protected by digital rights management (DRM) technologies while a license of the content is valid. Once the license of the content expires, however, the content can no longer be played back. Thus, if a user wants to extend the license of the content, the user is required to connect the portable multimedia device to an apparatus, such as a personal computer (PC), to extend the license of the content. If the license of the content is not extended, the content still remains within the portable multimedia device but cannot be played back.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a typical method of extending a license of a content. Referring to FIG. 1, described below will be a procedure for extending a license of a content that has been downloaded from a PC 120 by a portable multimedia device 110 in the case where the license of the content has already expired.
First, the PC 120 downloads a content protected by DRM technologies from a server 130. Next, the PC 120 transmits the downloaded content to the portable multimedia device 110. At this point, the PC also transmits a license of the content to the portable multimedia device 110. The license refers to data for controlling use of the content, and the license is stored in a region of the portable multimedia device 110 which a user cannot access. Finally, the user presses a “Play” button to play back the content stored in the portable multimedia device 110.
Based on the license, the portable multimedia device 110 determines whether a term (or a time period) of a validity of the content or a permitted number of playbacks of the content has expired, and plays back the content only if either the term of the validity or the permitted number of playbacks of the content has not expired or has been exceeded.
As described above, the content can be played back only if the license of the content is still valid. For example, the downloaded content may be played back for 3 months after the download, may be played back 100 times after the download, or may be played back until a particular date, such as Jun. 30, 2007. If the portable multimedia device 100 judges that the license of the content has expired, that is, if the portable multimedia device 100 determines that the term of the validity or the permitted number of playbacks of the content is exceeded, for example, the license needs to be extended to continue to play back the content.
A user connects the portable multimedia device 110 to the PC 120 and extends the license by using a computer program installed in the PC 120. For example, the user can extend the license stored in the portable multimedia device 110 by connecting the PC 120 to the server 130 by using the computer program installed in the PC 120, extending the license, and transmitting the extended license from the PC 120 to the portable multimedia device 110.
As described above, it is typically troublesome to extend a license of a content stored in the portable multimedia device 110 because, every time the license needs to be extended, the portable multimedia device 110 needs to be connected to the PC 120 so as to execute the computer program installed in the PC 120.